Larry Memmott's Blog

On October 12 at the Teatro Municipal al Aire Libre some 15 Bolivian Metal groups will present a concert in tribute to famed folk group Kalamarka. After the metal groups finish, Kalamarka will play. This is an event not to be missed by anyone interested in the music or culture of Bolivia. And I am […]

It takes almost an hour to fly the 150 miles from La Paz to Rurrenabaque.  Alternatively, you could drive.  The road is almost twice as long, at 270 miles, but is reportedly pretty poor and slow going.  Still, it would be an adventure.  Flying is an adventure, too.  Not the adventure it used to be, […]

We spent three days exploring the pampas of Bolivia southwest of Rurrenabaque.  It was a great time and a fun explore. From Rurrenabaque, there are two directions the tourists take.  You can go upriver into the jungle, or downriver onto the pampas.  Several people, and some online investigation, suggested that the pampas is actually more […]

First full day on the river in Santa Rosa, Beni, Bolivia.  We went upriver this morning, seeing lots of common caimanes, black caimanes, turtles, squirrel monkeys, capuchin monkeys, many different species of birds and pink dolphins. Our destination was a large, deep pool in the river where the pink dolphins rest and care for their […]

The incredible and incredibly preserved wooden machinery of the colonial mint Another unfinished post. I’ll come back to these in La Paz to finish them. La Casa de la Moneda is one of the most incredible and interesting places I’ve visited in Bolivia. The building itself is spectacular – all the woodwork without a single […]

This hotel was a real surprise.  I did not expect such comfort south of Uyuni. Jardines de Mallku Cueva is in Villa Mar, some x miles south of Uyuni and x miles northeast of the Sol de la Mañana “geyser” field.  That puts it about 90 minutes from Sol de la Mañana, so if you […]

This drive takes you south from Uyuni towards the colored lakes of Los Lipez.  Start out along Highway 5 from Uyuni.  Villa Mar is the location of the very pleasant Jardines de Mallku Cueva hotel, a great jumping off point for further explorations.  At x miles is the unmarked turnoff to the right to the […]

The Train Cemetery is not a train museum, even one with limited maintenance and development like the one in Putumayo.  No, the Train Cemetery in Uyuni is where trains end up after they die.  Don’t let that put you off, though, it’s a blast. The cemetery is an open air space with the remains of […]

Luna Salada is probably the premier hotel at the Salar de Uyuni.  Constructed almost entirely of salt blocks, it has the local uniqueness factor down, but it also doesn’t skimp on the most important aspects of comfort. The hotel is beautiful from the inside. The whites and grays of the salt blocks and rock salt […]

The Salar is perhaps the premier tourist destination in Bolivia.  I’ve been there three times and I don’t think it gets old.  It does get cold. Most people use a tour agency and guide to explore the Salar, but I never have, so I can’t help with that side of things.  However, I can give […]